Surface microstructural effects on angular distribution of molybdenum particles sputtered with low energy Ne + ions

Abstract

Angular distributions of sputtered Mo atoms have been measured. Annealed and non-annealed polycrystalline Mo targets with grain sizes of ~50 and ~5 μm, respectively were bombarded by 0.6 and 1.5 keV Ne + ions to investigate surface microstructural effects on the distributions of the sputtered atoms. The angles of incidence were chosen to be 0 and 45° with respect to the surface normal. For the 45° incidence, the more forward emission was observed for the lower incident energy ions and the smaller grain size. The distribution for the normally incident 1.5 keV Ne + ions obeyed the cosine law. An estimation of surface topography changes and the grain size effect on angular distribution was made.